Russians on Athos. Essay on the life and work of Abbot of the Holy Archimandriat Macarius (Sushkin)

The greatness of Christianity lies primarily in the fact that it gives the soul true freedom. This freedom is unimaginable, or better yet, unacceptable for a carnal man. Therefore, the real history of the Christian Church is often very far from the ideal and desired one. Thus, the national question already in the ancient Church became one of the most important problems: “In these days, when the disciples multiplied, there was a murmur among the Hellenists against the Jews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution of needs...” (Acts 6:1). This incident turns out to be so serious that the apostles are forced to introduce a new institution into the Church - deacons. It is no secret that throughout the history of the Church, national divisions of peoples have undermined the mystical unity of Christians. This was the case on Mount Athos, the only international Christian state of its kind. The very multinationality of the Holy Mountain made it the most unique place on earth, and at the same time, an arena of fierce struggle for Christian ideals by the forces of good and evil. Nevertheless, if we talk about specific historical situations, it should be recognized that on Mount Athos, de facto national differences almost always turned out to be decisive. Archim. Macarius (Sushkin) is one of the legendary figures of Russian Athos in the 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century, the number of Russian monks on Mount Athos outnumbered the Greeks, and the Russians still did not have their own monastery. The historical situation called for the emergence of a strong personality with authority both among the Russians and among the Greeks in order to spiritually stop the “murmur of the Hellenists” (Acts 6:1), who put the national above the Christian. And so, in the middle of the 19th century, the Greek Panteleimon Monastery became the first Russian monastery on Mount Athos, and Russian monasticism received official status on the Holy Mountain. In 1875, a Russian monk was elected abbot of the monastery. This lot went to the holy archimandrite Macarius (Sushkin). Currently, new materials have been found in the archives of the city of Tula that make it possible to correct a number of inaccuracies that are found in the essay and to supplement the historical truth. First of all, it was possible to find documents about the birth and baptism of Father Macarius, which made it possible to clarify the date of his birth. Until now, it was believed that he was born in 1821; the exact date was not known, but now it has been established that it happened on October 17, 1820 in Tula. So, Archimandrite Macarius (Sushkin) was born on October 17, 1820 in the family of a Tula merchant of the first guild, an honorary citizen of the city, Ivan Denisovich Sushkin, and his wife Feodosia Petrovna. In the metric book of the Tula Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Pavshinskaya Sloboda, a record of his birth and baptism has been preserved. “On October 17, 1820, a son, Mikhail, was born to the merchant Ivan Denisov Sushkin. Priest Bazhenov read the prayer to the mother in labor and the baby named after the river. The baby was baptized on October 18. The baptism was performed by priest Vasily Bazhenov, deacon Emelyan Gastev, sexton Terenty Feodorov, sexton Pavel Lukin. The adopters were the bourgeois Peter Petrov Sushkin and the bourgeois widow Avdotya Yakovleva Sushkina” 1 . The Tula archives contain more detailed information about the family of Father Macarius. His father, Ivan Denisovich Sushkin, was born in Tula on January 22, 1786, married the daughter of the deceased merchant Pyotr Stepanovich Sushkin, the maiden Feodosia (born May 8, 1788) on June 9, 1810 in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Pavshinskaya Sloboda of Tula. The guarantors for the wedding were the merchant Ivan Petrovich Sushkin (Feodosia's brother) and Ivan Denisovich's paternal uncles - Egor Osipovich Sushkin and Nikolai Osipovich Sushkin 2. Ivan Denisovich Sushkin had three children. The first son, Vasily, was born in 1814 (most likely, he was not born in Tula; there is no data on his birth in the parish register), he was married to Olga Ivanovna, and had three children: Vasily, born in 1839, Ivan, born in 1847, and Elizaveta, born in 1849. The second son Ivan was born on April 17, 1816 in Tula, baptized in the parish church, his wife Vera Feodorovna. The third son Peter was born in 1826 (like Vasily, he was most likely not born in Tula, since there is no information about him in the parish register). Mikhail Ivanovich's family was among the most prosperous in Tula. His grandfather Denis Osipovich Sushkin owned a large bristle factory - an enterprise for the production of sorted bristles, which was only exported to the port of St. Petersburg, and brought the owner tens of thousands of rubles of net profit per year. In addition, the family also owned a wax factory. According to surviving historical and statistical studies of that time, it is known that 150 thousand rubles worth of wax was bleached here annually. The Sushkins bought molasses and wax in the Kursk and Tambov provinces, sold pure honey to Moscow, and bleached wax to the St. Petersburg port. In the early 1830s, Denis Osipovich, together with his sons Ivan and Kondrat, opened the Trading House, which conducted all trading operations of Tula merchants in St. Petersburg, making transactions worth 10 million rubles a year. This entire fortune was inherited by the eldest son, Ivan Denisovich Sushkin 3. The entire large Sushkin family lived in a house on the street. Novo-Pavshinskaya in Tula (now Kominterna street, 4), this house has been preserved and is recognized as a historical and cultural monument of regional significance. A block from the house was the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose parishioners were Mikhail Ivanovich’s parents. Ivan Denisovich Sushkin served as church elder here for many years. In 1811, thanks to his donations, it was possible to transform the church chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker; in 1812, with his funds, a new chapel was built in the name of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” In 1814–1816, Ivan Denisovich Sushkin financed the construction of a multi-tiered bell tower. It had 7 bells, the largest weighing 218 pounds. In 1845, Ivan Denisovich Sushkin opened a shelter for lonely old people at the church. The construction cost him one and a half thousand silver rubles, but for comparison: he donated 7 thousand only for the purchase of silver church utensils, and 17 thousand rubles for the needs of poor parishioners 4 . But at the same time, the head of the family, Denis Osipovich Sushkin, remained aloof from these godly deeds, since he himself was one of the schismatics. As the biographers of Father Macarius testify, there was a serious discord in relations between his Orthodox parents and his schismatic grandfather, and the sons of Ivan Denisovich had to make a difficult choice at one time. In addition to the entry in the metric book about the secular period of Father Macarius’ life in Tula, another archival document has been preserved, which mentions his name. This is a church certificate that was issued to I.D. Sushkin by the parish priest on March 12, 1850 about the composition of his family. In December 1849, I. D. Sushkin won the local public elections and became the Tula mayor and chairman of the Tula City Duma, that is, he took the highest position in local government, further strengthening the position of his family in Tula society. From this document it is known that Mikhail Ivanovich had three brothers: the elders Vasily and Ivan and the younger Peter. His closest relationships were with Ivan and Peter, and these connections were maintained during the period when Mikhail Ivanovich took monastic vows 5 . From the memoirs of Sushkin’s biographers, it is known that in 1851 Mikhail begged his father to let him go on a pilgrimage to holy places; he dreamed of going to Athos. Ivan Denisovich released his son, but on the condition that he return home. Of course, the head of the family expected that Mikhail and his brothers would continue the family business, but was forced to agree with his son’s choice. As you know, young Sushkin came to St. Athos on November 3, 1851, and on November 27 he was tonsured into the schema. The rapid development of events is explained by a fatal illness that struck the young pilgrim. His condition seemed so hopeless that the dying novice was tonsured into schema monasticism immediately, without any expectation that he would not only soon get stronger and get back on his feet, but would also bring much benefit to the monastery that had received him. On February 22, 1853, Father Macarius was ordained a deacon, and a little over two years later, on June 3, 1856, he was ordained a hieromonk. And on July 20, 1875, Father Macarius was solemnly elected abbot of the Panteleimon Monastery. The exarchs of the Patriarch of Constantinople were present: His Eminence Metropolitan Ioannikios of Nicaea and Metropolitan Joachim of Derkiy. Father Macarius became the first Russian abbot of the Orthodox monastery on the Holy Mountain. The Tula relatives accepted the choice of Mikhail Ivanovich and provided great assistance to his activities to strengthen the Russian community in Greece and in the construction of the Moscow monastery courtyard. According to the will of I. D. Sushkin, part of his multimillion-dollar fortune was bequeathed to the monastery. Father Macarius’s siblings, Ivan and Peter, also made generous donations to the monastery. Their relationship was not only family, but also business. Part of the monastery’s financial assets lay in the accounts of the Tula city public I.D. Sushkin Bank, which was managed by the brothers Ivan and Pyotr Sushkin. On June 24, 1886, the Tula District Court, at the proposal of the special office for the credit part of the Ministry of Finance, declared this bank bankrupt. The largest credit institution in Tula was driven to ruin by the machinations of the Sushkin brothers. Losses of creditors were measured at 1,847,000 rubles; the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos, which lost 70 thousand rubles during the collapse of the bank, was among the defrauded depositors. According to the verdict of the Moscow Court of Justice, Ivan and Pyotr Sushkin received 6 years of Siberian exile and, we dare to assume, they were not even able to see off their brother on his final journey 6 . Father Macarius reposed in the Lord on June 19, 1889. We are sure that Archimandrite Macarius (Sushkin) as a historical figure has not yet been fully appreciated. Such a person is like a high mountain: standing at the foot, it is impossible to see the top, and only by going far enough can a person take in the entire mountain with his gaze. Enough time must pass for descendants to appreciate the true worth of such personalities as Archimandrite Macarius. This book is the first attempt to return to the origins of Russian national identity. Vasily Girin, Irina Paramonova Repeated trips to the Holy Mount Athos, a long stay there, life among our compatriots, monks, both in the monasteries of the Holy Mountain and in their hospitable farmsteads in Odessa and Constantinople - all this brought us very closely together with the inhabitants of the Holy Mountain, gave us the opportunity to thoroughly get acquainted not only with individual outstanding representatives of them at a given time, but, as far as was possible for us, and study the character, life and state of modern Russian Athonite monasticism in general. The fruit of these observations is a historical and biographical sketch of the life and work of the ever-memorable elder abbot of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, Fr. Makariy (Sushkin), who died unexpectedly on June 19, 1889. The bright personality of the late Fr. Macarius, who enjoyed great fame and deep respect not only on the Holy Mount Athos and within the boundaries of his fatherland in its most remote outskirts, but also beyond them, in countries of other faiths, for this very reason deserves from the Russian people, whom he dearly loved and for whom he sacrificed everything that was dear to him in his life, special attention and gratitude, a weak expression of which is the present sketch of his highly ascetic and truly patriotic activities. But the personality of Fr. Macaria is dear to us also because she is a living personification of the high ideal of Athonite monasticism. But since the personality of the late abbot of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos, endowed by nature with rich treasures of mind and heart, only slightly revealed by the religious upbringing of his mother, was created and entirely formed on Athos soil, under the strong influence of the brilliant personality of the late confessor of the same monastery, no less famous in the annals of Russian Athos monasticism, Fr. Jerome, hence the urgent need to give space to characterize this remarkable personality. Called to the Russian Panteleimon Monastery by the late Greek abbot Gerasim and the Greek brethren in 1840 with the modest title of “spiritual father” of the Russian monks of this monastery, Fr. Jerome conducted his business so skillfully that in a short time he arranged the monastery's financial affairs in an extremely upset manner; attracted many Russian monks to the monastery and gave them all the necessary means for their lasting existence in this monastery on the Holy Mountain. The wise confessor achieved this not so much by the fact that he provided materially for his compatriots, but most of all by the fact that he raised for them a leader-abbot who was selflessly devoted to the cause and to himself and prepared for him the necessary figures, collaborators with whom he could defend for himself the right to exist on Mount Athos and bring to his fatherland that feasible benefit that it has the right to expect from the Athonite monks living on the labor of his sons. This is our sketch of the life and work of Fr. Macarius would therefore be incomplete and one-sided if we had not given a prominent place in it to the characterization of the late confessor, Fr. Jerome, the first organizer of Russian monasticism on Athos, its main leader and, if not the first figure, then, in any case, the initiator of every important matter concerning this community. All activities about. Macaria, with the exception of the last four years, passed under the strong influence of Fr. Jerome, who was the adviser and leader of the late abbot. This activity so merges with the activity of Fr. Jerome that it is difficult to indicate what belongs to one and where the activity of another begins. These two great personalities of Athonite monasticism, completely different in character, were as unanimous and in agreement in their lives and activities, as if they had “one soul and one heart.” In addition to this characteristic, in order to understand our story about the fate of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos in the past century, we consider it necessary to give, although brief, lively sketches of the main figures and collaborators of Fr. Macaria. Being important figures in the fate of the Russian monastic community of the Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, these employees and associates of Fr. Macarius are at the same time living exponents of this or that side of the high ideal of Athonite monasticism, and these sides are revealed in them with greater detail and relief than in the person of one person, even if it was such an outstanding personality as the late Fr. Macarius. In these specific images, we believe, the high ideal of Athonite monasticism will be imprinted more deeply, more integrally and more vividly in the imagination of our readers. Since the life of the great ascetics elders Fr. Macarius and Fr. Jerome with their main collaborators was devoted entirely and selflessly to serving the Russian community in the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos, its establishment in the monastery, internal organization, protection from the attacks and intrigues of its ill-wishers, the acquisition of its strong position on Athos and within its fatherland, the flourishing in it of the true monastic spirit and brotherly love, both in relation to its compatriots and fellow tribesmen, and in relation to foreigners and co-religionists, etc., then this is a real biographical sketch of the life and work of Fr. Macaria is at the same time a historical outline of the education, development and life of this very community for the entire period from 1840 to the day of the death of this abbot. The need for such a complete and truthful essay seems to us all the more urgent that in our Russian literature, which is relatively quite rich in scientifically respectable diaries and travels around Athos (for example, Plaka-Grigoryevich-Barsky, the Most Reverend Porfiry Uspensky, Archimandrite Antonin, etc.), there is still no such essay and for the majority of Russian people Athos and the fate of compatriots on it monks remain to this day terra incognita 7 . Taking upon ourselves the difficult task of compiling this historical and biographical essay, we did not limit ourselves to our personal observations and impressions, which as such are always subjective, one-sided and incomplete; we were even less trusting of the oral stories of eyewitnesses and contemporaries, to which we turned in very rare and exceptional cases, when we did not have more reliable sources at hand, but tried to verify our observations with the observations of competent people who stood closer than us to the personalities described and events and those who have already spoken in print on this or that occasion. But over all these sources, we have always given preference to documents (in the original or a copy) that we accidentally came across, letters, notes, diaries, autobiographies and other handwritten materials that are considered first-hand sources. Thus, our sources, in addition to our personal direct observation of the life of modern Russian Athonite monasticism, are divided into printed and written ones, and the latter, in qualitative and quantitative terms, are very significantly superior to the former. We include the following printed books and articles as sources of the first type: Monk Parthenius. A tale of wandering and travel through Russia, Moldova, Turkey and the Holy Land. M., 1855. Parts I-IV. Letters from a saintly mountain dweller about the Holy Mount Athos. M., 1883. Ed. 3. Parts I-III. Leontyev K. Panslavism on Athos (Russian Bulletin 1873. Book IV). His own. Memories of Archimandrite Macarius, abbot of the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos // Citizen. 1889. No. 191, 192, 196, 207, 211, 243 and 246). Kraskovsky I. F. Macarius of Athos, abbot and sacred archimandrite of St. Athos. Panteleimonovsky Monastery. M., 1889. News and correspondence of newspapers, Russian and foreign. Of these sources, the first two provide us with material for characterizing the personality of Fr. Jerome and the life of Russian monks on Athos before their settlement and now after their settlement in the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. K. Leontyev's excellent articles provide valuable material for characterizing mainly Fr. Macarius, but you can find a lot of data in them for the biography of Fr. Jerome. As for the book by N. F. Kraskovsky, despite all the sincerity of its tone and the feeling of deep reverence and respect of its author for the personality of the deceased abbot - the archimandrite, this book is not without one-sidedness in its judgments (see the article by K. Leontyev in "Citizen") and even direct, very important errors. Of the numerous handwritten sources that were at our fingertips, in first place we must, in all fairness, put the collection of the late hieromonk of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos, Fr. Mines under the title: “Description of Memorable Events.” Curious by nature, a great reader and a zealous scribbler, Fr. Mina served for a long time under the late abbot Fr. Macarius as his personal secretary. Due to his curiosity, he copied every outgoing and incoming paper to Fr. abbot in a special book he kept for himself, which also included other papers, letters and even excerpts from newspapers, one way or another related to the history of the monastery. Thus, an extensive half-sheet collection of that very curious, even intimate material was compiled, which, if treated differently, would have been forever lost to the history of the monastery. (From the same Fr. Mina, about 30 similar volumes with a wide variety of content remained.) Here are the articles in this collection that undoubtedly provided us with an important service in compiling this essay: "Newspaper slander against Russians in 1877 in Constantinople (several articles)." “The incident at Odoid’s cell and its consequences. Events of 1877 in the Russian Monastery." “The Serai case is about the dispute between the rector of the St. Andrew’s monastery, Archimandrite Theodoret, and the brotherhood of the monastery. Correspondence with antiprosop." “Letters on the case of the Elias monastery in 1873.” "Memories (of Mina) of wartime in 1877." “Diary of Archimandrite Fr. Macarius." This is a copy from the first notebook of Fr. Macarius, led by him during his journey through the East. This passage contains some biographical features of Fr. Makaria, his preparations for the trip, the road to Kyiv and his stay there before leaving for Odessa. In addition to this, we already had in our hands the following two notebooks in the original, covering the life and stay of Fr. Macarius and his companions in Odessa, a journey to Constantinople and a description of its attractions. Subsequent notebooks of this curious diary have been lost. “Letter to the abbot Fr. Macarius from hierodeacon (now hieromonk) Alexy about an event in the city of Thessaloniki that happened to him on August 29, 1877.” "Memoirs of Father Abbot of the Russian on Athos Panteleimon Monastery of the Holy Archimandrite Macarius, in the world of a hereditary honorary citizen, Tula 1st Guild merchant son Mikhail Ivanovich Sushkin, recorded from his words in 1877 by Hierodeacon Mina." “These memories relate only to the family of Fr. Macarius and his education at school and at home.” “Correspondence about. Macarius with the Russian Consulate General in Thessaloniki and with St. Petersburg benefactors before the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878.” From another collection of no less volume by the same Fr. For this essay, we used the “Diary of Incidents in the Panteleimon Monastery, from 1853 to 1884.” However, this diary is short and only the most important events that occurred in the monastery are noted in it, and therefore is of little use for our purpose. A more important service was rendered to us by a second similar diary from 1840 to 1874, in which the events of the monastery in recent years during the most turbulent era of the monastery were kept in detail day after day. This diary is in connection with the book “On the issue of the Athos monastery of St. Panteleimon. St. Petersburg, 1874" by an anonymous lover of truth provides very valuable data for the history of the fierce struggle that was waged in the Panteleimon Monastery in 1874 and somewhat earlier between Greek and Russian monks over the rights to this monastery. The second diary mentioned above gave us the opportunity to restore this sad story in its true light. To characterize the internal religious mood of Fr. Macarius, his aspirations and ideals in the first years of his monastic life on Mount Athos, his relationship with his parents and elders of the monastery at this time, 22 letters for the years from 1851 to 1856, kindly communicated to us by the brother of the late Fr. Makaria I.V. Sushkin, to whom we offer our deep gratitude for this. In addition, we had in our hands letters from Fr. Macarius and Jerome, addressed to the late professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy F.A. Ternovsky, who was in live correspondence with the Athonite elders and carried out many of their instructions, especially concerning the publishing activities of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. These letters were handed over to us by the late mother of Professor N.T. Ternovskaya. Our essay often quotes other letters from the Athonite elders, written by them either in their own hands, or only signed by them and addressed to private individuals: monks or laymen. We collected these letters on Athos. To their owners we express our heartfelt gratitude. State Archive of the Tula Region (GATO). F. 256. O. 1. D. 2820. L. 173. Data from parish registers (GATO. F. 256. O. 1. D. 2820. L. 129). Link I.V. Cities of the Tula province. Part I. Historical and statistical view of the cities of the Tula province. Tula, 1841. pp. 113–114. Trinity N.I. Holy churches of the city of Tula. Tula, 1888; Tula Diocesan Gazette. 1868. No. 16. GATO. F. 518. O. 1. D. 7199. L. 50. GATO. F. 21. O. 4. D. 15. L. 30–30 volumes; F. 156. O. 1. D. 11. D. 10. L. 18. The Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos is one of the 20 Svyatogorsk monasteries. Living her special independent inner life, at the same time she takes the most lively and direct part in matters relating to the entire Mount Athos as a whole. As a member of the Kareya protat or synod (in common parlance kinot), where such cases are decided, the Russian Panteleimon monastery on Athos casts its decisive vote equally with the other monasteries of the Holy Mountain, but in those cases when it itself is a violator of general Svyatogorsk interests, it becomes subject to jurisdiction and is obliged to defend itself before this court. That is why, when starting to present the fate of the Russian community on Athos, we would need to preface the story with an outline of the internal structure of the Holy Mount Athos for greater clarity, but we could not do this for the following reasons: 1) this essay would distract us far from the direct goal and 2) those interested can form an idea about this structure on the basis of the extensive history of Athos by the Right Reverend Porfiry Uspensky. For readers of our essay, in necessary cases, we place explanations in the footnotes to it, and for those who wish to thoroughly understand the essence of this device, at the end of the essay we intend to print in Appendix I in its entirety: “The general canonism of the Holy Mountains of Athos, compiled by Protat.” The main custodian of these documents - the archive of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos - has not yet been sorted out and put in order. Despite all our desire to penetrate into it, we received a decisive refusal and therefore were forced to be content only with those documents that accidentally remained in the hands of private individuals. You might be interested in: